cils, was appointed, with Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Pendleton, one of the revisers of the laws; became subsequently Speaker of the House of Delegates, in which situation he was distinguished by his dignity and parliamentary skill; and when, in 1778, the court of chancery was first organized, he was chosen, with Mr. Pendleton and Mr. Nicholas, to occupy the bench of that high tribunal, of which he was a member at the time of his election to the Federal Convention

Few persons, of whom the remembrance has been preserved, ever presented a more winning union of rare virtues and talents than Mr. Wythe. To great suavity of manners and benevolence of disposition, he joined the firmest and loftiest integrity. In his high judicial office, the duties of which he administered for nearly thirty years, he was not more distinguished for his great learning and immaculate purity, to which all did homage, than for the stern independence with which he bore himself against every influence of popular excitement or legislative encroachment. Instances were not wanting to test the strength of his virtue, in both of these respects; and to no one could the words of one of his familiar classic oracles be more truly applied than to himself,

"Non civium ardor prava jubentium,

Non vultus instantis tyranni,

Mente quatit solida."

The generous spirit of liberty, which he possessed in a very high degree, was in him so blended

with, and tempered by, the love of justice, of order and stability, that he was ever able to maintain the balance of his judgment in perfect equipoise, amid the antagonism of opposing political creeds. He early saw the necessity of a closer confederation of the Colonies for the preservation of their common liberty and independence. Even in January, 1776, preceding by four months the formal introduction of the subject before Congress by Mr. Lee, under the resolutions of the convention of Virginia, he expressed to one of his patriotic associates from another Colony the deep solicitude he felt for the completion of such a bond, and declared, that, "whoever should begin the work, he would throw in his mite among them."1

When the articles of confederation, finally agreed upon, proved on trial so inadequate to their end, he could not but enter into the views of those who desired an efficient reconstruction of the system. With these sentiments he repaired to the general convention at Philadelphia; and, though he was soon recalled from that body by a severe domestic affliction, — the illness and death of his wife, — he afterwards, in the convention of his own State, gave his hearty support to the result of their labors.

To supply Mr. Henry's place in the delegation of Virginia to the convention, the governor, who was authorized to fill supervening vacancies, offered

1 See letter of Samuel Adams, of 15th January, 1776, in Works of John Adams, vol. ix. p. 373.

the appointment first to General Thomas Nelson, and then to Mr. Richard Henry Lee. Both of these gentlemen having declined it, probably from disinclination to the objects of the convention, it was conferred on Dr. James M'Clurg, of the city of Richmond, who adorned a high professional and social standing by the advantage of liberal studies, of extensive foreign travel, and of varied and enlightened observation in his own country, as well as abroad. We have already seen that his talents and attainments were such as to have brought him within the contemplation of Mr. Madison and other friends, as early as 1782, for the important office of secretary for foreign affairs. He took his seat in the convention with the rest of his colleagues, but was prevented by other engagements from continuing to the close of its deliberations. His general views, however, are known to have favored the reform which was finally recommended.

NOTE.

There are but few relics now preserved of Mr. Wythe's style of argument and elocution in debate, which Mr. Jefferson describes as easy, chaste, logical, and learned."-See his letter to Sanderson, 31st August, 1820. Besides the meagre sketch of his speech, in favor of the ratification of the Constitution, in the report of the proceedings of the Virginia convention of 1788, we have no other specimens of his manner of speaking than the occasional fragments given by Mr. John Adams, in his very brief notes of the debates of Congress in 1775 and 1776. Some of these fragments appear to us so full of spirit, of concentrated thought, and a certain Demosthenian energy, that we are tempted to give two or three citations of them from the notes of Mr. Adams, recommended no less by the importance of the matter than by the historical interest attached to the character of the speaker.

In a debate on the 21st of October, 1775, respecting the expediency of opening the American ports for foreign trade, Mr. Wythe said :

'Why should not America have a navy? No maritime power, near the sea-coast, can be safe without it. It is no chimera. The Romans suddenly built one in their Carthaginian War. Why may we not lay a foundation for it? We abound with firs, iron ore, tar, pitch, turpentine; we have all the materials for the construction of a navy. No country exceeds us in felicity of climate, or fertility of soil. America is one of the wings on which the British eagle has soared to the skies. I am sanguine and enthusiastical enough to wish and to hope that it will be sung, -— America inter nubila condit."

In the close of the same speech, he pronounced, with a prophet's fire: "Our petition [to the King] may be declared to be received graciously, and promised to be laid before Parliament; but we can expect no success from it. Have they ever condescended to take notice of you? Rapine, depopulation, burning, murder. Turn your eyes to Concord, Lexington, Charleston, Bristol, New York; there you see the character of Ministry and Parliament.”

In another debate on the 16th of January, 1776, urging the importance of forming treaties of commerce with foreign powers, he used this manly and noble language:

"But other things are to be considered, before such a measure is adopted. In what character shall we treat? As subjects of Great Britain? As rebels? Why should we be so fond of calling ourselves dutiful subjects? If we should offer our trade to the court of France, would they take notice of it, any more than if Bristol or Liverpool should offer theirs, while we profess to be subjects? No: we must declare ourselves a free people."- See Works of John Adams, vol. 11. pp. 479, 480, and 486.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Mr. Madison's Opinions respecting Nature of Reforms in Federal System His Letter to General Washington on the Subject-Congressional Negative on State Laws - Power of Judiciary to declare null and void Laws contrary to the Constitution, then unsettled-History of the Question - Early Decisions of the Courts of Virginia upon it-Opinions of Judges Pendleton and Wythe - Meeting of Federal Convention- Washington elected President of the Convention - Characters of Delegates from the Several States - Delegation of Pennsylvania, Franklin, Morris, Wilson, &c. &c. - Of New Hampshire, Langdon and Gilman-Of Massachusetts, Gerry, King, &c. &c.-Of Connecticut, Johnson, Sherman, and Ellsworth - Of New York, Hamilton, Yates, and Lansing-Of New Jersey, Livingston, Patterson, &c. &c. – Of Delaware, Dickinson, Read, &c. &c.— Of Maryland, M'Henry, Carroll, Mercer, &c. &c. - Of North Carolina, Alexander Martin, Davie, Williamson, &c. &c.. - Of South Carolina, Rutledge, the Pinckneys, &c.— Of Georgia, Few, Baldwin, &c. - Tribute of Mr. Madison to Character of the Convention-He prepares to report their Proceedings and Debates.

As the time approached for the meeting of the convention, Mr. Madison applied his thoughts to preparing a definite sketch of the reforms to be proposed to that body. Virginia, having been the first of the States to move in the matter, he supposed that her delegation would be naturally looked to for some initiatory proposition which might serve as the basis of the deliberations of the convention. His ideas of the nature and extent of the reforms